California Vacation, 1 of 5

This is a series of posts about our recent vacation to California. Vacation seems like a foreign word most of the time, because we don't know how to take one, can't afford one, the timing is off, etc. However, we planned and budgeted accordingly and enjoyed our 6 days away. 

First Stop: Disneyland

J went to Disneyland as a child; I went to Disney World as a child. Within our marriage, we've gone to Disney World twice, and now we can say we've gone to Disneyland. In a way, we've both experienced a little bit of each other's childhood memories.

One of our very best friends is a Disney travel agent so she took care of all the logistics for the Disneyland portion of our trip. Disneyland is smaller with only two parks. In addition, we didn't stay on site but rather across the street. We were able to walk to the park each day from our off-site hotel and never had to pay/fight for parking. Some of the rides are exactly the same or very similar to Disney World, but than other rides have varying degrees of differences or altogether different. 

Our first ride was the train that went around the entire area of the Disneyland  park.
This helped us figure out what to do first. 

Disneyland is the home of Sleeping Beauty's castle.
It is much smaller than Cinderella's castle at Disney World. 

J exploring Tom Sawyer's Island.

Mickey's Fun Wheel 

BEFORE and DURING the teacups!

Buzz Lightyear and Toy Story Mania rides. I let J beat me on both!

So we can always remember, here are the attractions we enjoyed at Disneyland:

• Disneyland Railroad
• Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters
• Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage
• Haunted Mansion
• Indiana Jones Adventure
• Innovations
• It's A Small World
• Mad Tea Party
• Pirate's Liar on Tom Sawyer Island
• Pirates of the Caribbean
• Star Tours - The Adventures Continue
• Storybook Land Canal Boats
• Lunch at Carnation Cafe
• Dinner at Rancho del Zocalo Restaurante

Here are the attractions we enjoyed at Disneyland's California Adventure:

• The Bakery Tour, hosted by Boudin Bakery
• Goofy's Sky School
• It's Tough To Be A Bug
• The Little Mermaid, Ariel's Undersea Adventure
• Mickey's Fun Wheel
• Muppet Vision 3D
• Pinoccho's Daring Journey
• Soarin' Over California
• Toy Story Midway Mania
• Breakfast at Fiddler, Fifer & Practical  Cafe on Buena Vista Street
• Lunch at Carthay Circle Restaurant
• Dinner at Paradiise Garden Grill